


Steadfast

by Griddlebone



Category: Magic Knight Rayearth
Genre: Canon - Manga, Canon Compliant, F/M, Friendship/Love, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-15
Updated: 2013-06-15
Packaged: 2017-12-15 02:46:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/844434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Griddlebone/pseuds/Griddlebone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Presea and Clef stand watch as a new era dawns for Cephiro, and confront their own regrets and fears.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Steadfast

**Author's Note:**

  * For [possibilityleft](https://archiveofourown.org/users/possibilityleft/gifts).



The castle was quiet as evening descended upon Cephiro; the battles were over, the Magic Knights had returned to their world, the day's bustle was winding down. Cephiro – or whatever it was now, whatever it would become – was safe from destruction. There would never be another Pillar, but the land itself would remain whole despite the upheaval. Hikaru and her fellow Magic Knights had seen to that.

In the calm that followed the storm, Presea yearned to rest. But she could not rest. Not yet. There was someone she must see to, first.

She found him standing at one of the castle's many large windows, staring through the wide pane of glass at the mystery that was their newly reforged world. His focus was so intense that he did not notice her arrival right away, and for a while she was content simply to watch him.

He had not held much hope, she knew, of Cephiro's continued existence. Without a Pillar, it should have faded into nothingness.

But thanks to Hikaru and Umi and Fuu, that had not happened. The people of Cephiro were alive and well, and were working together for a better tomorrow.

So why, then, she had to wonder, did Guru Clef still look so sad?

She spoke, almost without realizing it: "Clef…"

He looked over, startled, but a smile lit up his eyes when he saw her standing there. "Presea."

For a moment she thought he intended to say more, but he did not. The silence hung heavy between them.

Presea longed to go to him, but something kept her where she was. There was much that she wanted to know, now that all was said and done, but she knew better than to ask. Clef was one of her oldest, dearest friends. He would confide in her when he was ready.

And until that time, all she could do was what she had always done: wait, and watch over him.

"Clef, you seem tired," she said gently, a soft smile on her lips. No one else was allowed to notice his weaknesses. No one was allowed to support or protect him. It was only with Presea that he occasionally let his guard down. "You should get some rest now that Cephiro is safe," she went on. "Are you having trouble sleeping?"

"My mind is restless," he admitted. "A lot has changed in a very short time. It is… a lot to take in."

Presea could not have agreed more. "I can hardly imagine a world without a Pillar," she told him. "But I think, without a Pillar, we are going to need your wisdom more than ever."

"Is it really wisdom I offer the people of Cephiro?" he asked, his voice so quiet and bitter that she almost did not recognize it. "I question the choices I made, Presea."

"Clef." She came to stand beside him at the window, where New Cephiro beckoned. Surely he could see that under his guidance everything had turned out all right. Surely he could see… She struggled for words. She had always been better at making weapons than making speeches.

"I did not tell the Magic Knights the truth about the Pillar system. I did not even tell you the truth. I thought I knew better. I thought the secret must be kept, that without a Pillar the only fate that awaited Cephiro was destruction." He looked at her then, and she met his gaze with all the compassion in her heart. "In the end, I thought it would be better to allow Cephiro to disappear than to ask another person to become the Pillar. I was wrong."

She longed to soothe away the pain that was so obvious on his face. If she wished hard enough, would her Will be able to help him in this new Cephiro?

Her brow furrowed slightly. "But Clef, the Magic Knights would never have succeeded without you."

This did not seem to satisfy him.

"Everything you did, you did for Cephiro. I don't think anyone, least of all Princess Emeraude, would fault you for that." She wished he would at least look at her, so he could see that her feelings for him were unchanged by the tragedy surrounding Emeraude's death.

"If the Magic Knights had known from the beginning what their real role was to be…"

"They might not have been willing to fight," Presea pointed out. "Regret for their actions would never have brought them back. If those three girls from another world had not returned when they did, Cephiro might be protected by another Pillar right now, one who would suffer and eventually die the same way that Emeraude did. Or it might be ruled by Autozam, or Fahren, or Chizeta. It might not exist at all."

Clef's expression was unreadable as he took in her words.

"I know in my heart that your choices helped save Cephiro," she murmured. She hoped that one day he would see that, too, and silently vowed to remain at his side until that day came.

He turned slightly toward her, and a little of the somberness left his face. "I believe I needed to hear that. You're a good friend, Presea."

"Clef…" _I would be so much more than a friend,_ she thought, _if only you would let me._ But she could not say that to him yet. Perhaps in time, but not yet. "Thank you."

He regarded her for a moment; she almost thought she saw him smile. "You should get some rest, too, you know."

She smiled briefly, teasingly. "Don't you worry about me. I wasn't the one who thought the task of finding a new pillar and protecting Cephiro was entirely on my shoulders."

"Maybe," he mused, "but you were there beside me every step of the way."

Her heart seemed to skip a beat. So he had noticed, after all. "I…" she started to explain, then wondered if her actions even needed an explanation and fell silent.

"The Magic Knights were right," he told her, "when they said that even the most difficult struggles become easier when you have someone you can rely on."

He took her hand, and for a moment she was lost in those gentle, slightly sad eyes of his. "Clef…"

"Come," he said. "I'll make you a potion to help you sleep." Before she could protest, he said, "I'll make one for me, too. And after we've both had a rest, we will see what tomorrow brings."

Presea was smiling as Clef led her away from the window. Cephiro's future could wait; they'd both earned their rest. Tomorrow they would have to face their future and their new reality – a world without a Pillar, that must find a way to make peace with its neighbors – but they would do it together. 

And she was certain that no matter what came their way, the love and trust that they shared would see them through. As it always had, and always would.


End file.
